Calgary in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Calgary in context

2.42.83.23.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.42.83.23.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
CalgaryAlberta (Region)Canada (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Calgary plotted against Alberta and Canada. The SNDi of new construction in Calgary peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Alberta which peaked in 1991-2005 and Canada which peaked in 1976-1990. Most recently, Calgary's incremental SNDi fell from 3.69 to 3.47 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Calgary ranked 5th out of 7 cities in Alberta and 40th out of 54 in Canada as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.47
Rank in Canada
32nd of 54
Rank in Alberta
7th of 7

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.04
Rank in Canada
40th of 54
Rank in Alberta
5th of 7

Rankings go from most connected to most disconnected — rank 1 is the most connected.

What about similarly populated cities?

23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
CalgaryAngelesSao Luis

While Angeles and São Luís both fluctuated in its street-construction patterns, Calgary built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved in new street additions. For the full street network, though, all three cities follow the same trend.